Seat structure



M. J. STRAND SEAT STRUCTURE April 13, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March9, 1953 INVENTOR TTORNEY MrceZZa. cf 52711 n B B 91m April 13, 1954 M.J. STRAND .SEAT STRUCTURE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1953 IN VENTORs3 Marcella J: Strand ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1954 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE SEAT STRUCTURE Marcellaul. Strand Lansing, 111.

Application March 9, 1953, Serial No. 341,140

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a novel construction of childs seat, for useeither with conventional straight back chairs, vehicle seats orupholstered chairs, and which is adapted to be detachably suspended fromthe back rest.

More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide aseat, structure which will openautomatically for applying a childthereto or for removing a child therefrom and wherein the'weight of thechild on the seat will retain a guard portion thereof ina closedposition around the torso of the child.

Another object of the invention is to provide a seat-structure which isso constructed that when applied to the upwardly and rearwardly inclinedback restof a chair that the child may not overturn the chair backwardby pushing against a table or other structure immediately adjacenttheiront of the chair.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention willhereinafterbecome more fully ap parent from the following description of thedrawings; illustrating'a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a side elevational View showing the chair as it would appearwhen supporting a child;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof looking'from left to rightof Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view, partly in top plan,taken substantially along the novel childs seat in its'entirety isdesignated generally 8 and includes a panel-like member forming; a backrest. 9. A panel-like member forming a seat It is hingedly mounted alonga back edge thereof to the bottom. edge of the back rest 8 by meansofloopedstrap members I l and l2 portions of which are secured byiastenings [3 to the backrest 9 and seat respectively. Curled endportionsof said strap members I! and !2 provide aligned loops; or hingedbarrels I4 through which extends a pintle or hinged pin a,

It for. mounting the seat It for. vertical swinging movement upwardlytoward the back rest 9 or downwardly away from, said backrest.

Apair of corresponding guard members .6 are hingedlytconnected to,thebaok; rest 9', adjacent 2 the side-edgesithereoi and above theseatl0; Each of said guard members it includes avertical side wall portion5? to a rear edge of which hinge leaves I 8 are secured byadditionalfastenings l3. Similar hinge leaves H are secured by fastenings E3 tothe back rest 9 and said hinge leaves lsand l9 are, provided withaligned, hinge barrels through which extend hinge pins or pintles 2| forswingably mounting the' guard members l 8 onthe back rest 9 for swingingmove:- ment outwardly away from one another or. iiiwardly toward oneanother. The wall portions I! at their upper edges are provided withoutwardly extending flanges forming arm rests.22. The wall portions I?are recessed at their bottom edges at points spaced. outwardly fromtheir inner hinged edges to provide narrower guard elements 23 which arecurved inwardly intermediate of their ends to provide front guardportions 24 which extend toward one another and ends of: which bearagainst-the back rest 9 and the underside of theseat 10 for urging theseat to swing upwardly toward said back rest. The pintles 24 of. theguard members l6 likewise mount coil springs 26 the ends of which bearagainst the back rest B and the inner sides of the walls H for urgingthe guard members It to swingoutwardly and away from one another,

asbest illustrated inFigure 4.

The wall portions l of the guard members 16 are connected to the seat 10by flexible members suchaschains 21. Other flexible members, such as thechains 28, are connected to thetback rest 9 and seat 10 at points spacedfrom the seat hinge i4, Hi.

The seat 10 isprovicled with a removable disklike section 23 which issupported in an opening thereof by strap members 3! which are rigid andwhichare secured to the upper side of the disk 29-and have outer endsoverlying a portion of theupper side of the seat H) which surrounds theopening 36. The disk. 29 can be removed. so that the opening 30 can beemployed with .a receptacle disposed .therebeneath as a toilet seat, A.horn member 32 has a base portion 33 whichis disposed on the seatlilbetween its forward edgeand the opening 3!) and which is securedthereto by a fastening 34. The horn 32 extends upwardly iromthe seat I0and is curved forwardly away from the back rest 9.

A secondary: or rear back: member or. paneh35 is disposed behind theback rest 9 and is held spaced therefrom by vertical sidewalls 36 and abottom wall 31 which combine with the back rest 9 and rear wall 35 toform an elongated box-like receptacle 38 having an open top which isnormally closed by a cover 39 which is hinged at 40 to the upper end ofthe rear wall 35, for swinging movement upwardly and rearwardly awayfrom the back rest 9 toward an open position. The back rest 9 extends toabove the container or receptacle 38 and the upper portion thereof isprovided with an opening to form a handheld M by means of which the seatstructure 8 may be manually supported and carried conveniently. Metalstrap members 42 are secured by fastenings 43 each to the back rest 9,rear wall 35 and one side wall 36 for reinforcing the receptacle 38.

A pair of double hooks 44 are swingably mounted on the receptacle 38externally of the walls 36 by means of pivot pins it which extendinwardly through intermediate shank portions 66 of the hookmembers A land which pivot pins are anchored in said side walls 36 and in upperstrap members 42 thereof. A spacing member 41 is mounted on each pivotpin 45 between the adjacent strap member 42 and shank portion 46 forspacing the hook members 64 outwardly from the walls 36. Each hookmember has a short hook 48 constituting one end thereof and an extensionof one end of the shank 4B and a long larger hook 453 constitutin theother end thereof and an extension of the other end of the shank 46.

Assuming that the hooks 38 are disposed in uppermost positions, asillustrated in Figures 1 and 2, said hooks may be engaged over the upperedge of the back rest of a straight chair for supporting the seat 8 onthe front side thereof and with the rear wall member 35 engagin againstthe front side of the chair back rest, not shown. The seat member inwill be supported at an incline upwardly and outwardly with respect tothe back rest 9 by its springs 25 and the uard members it will bedisplaced outwardly from their positions of Figure 3 by the springs 26and to the limit as permitted by the chains 21, so that the guardmembers i6 will be spread to enable a child to be readily placedtherebetween and on the seat member it and with the legs straddling thehorn 32. The weight of the child on the seat member ill will cause saidseat member to swing downwardly to a position substantially at a rightangle to the back rest 9 and in which position it is supported by theflexible members or chains 28. This downward swinging movement of theseat member it will cause the flexible members 21 to pull the guardmembers It inwardly to position the walls I! thereof substantiallyparallel, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 and so that the guardmembers IS will substantially surround the torso of the child. So longas the weight of the child is on the seat member I it cannot swing theguard members l6 away from one another and is thus confined within theseat 8. The legs of the child extend outwardly from either side of theborn 32 and beneath the guard member extensions 23. However, by merelylifting upwardly on the child to remove its weight from the seat memberHi, the guard members l6 will be swung apart so that the child can bereadily removed from the seat 8. The back wall 35 is spaced asubstantial distance behind the back rest 9 and seat It so that theweight of the child is spaced forwardly from the chair back rest onwhich the seat 8 is suspended thus preventing a child from pushingagainst a table or a similar structure and overturning a chair backwardson which the seat member 8 is supported.

The hook members 44 may be swung on their pivots 45 through arcs of 130approximately to position the hook elements 49 in uppermost positionsfor engagement over the upper edge of the back rest of an automobileseat or a piece of upholstered furniture for similarly supporting achilds seat 8 on the front thereof. A child is applied to and removedfrom the seat 8 when applied to a vehicle seat back rest or to the backrest of an upholstered piece of furniture, in the same manner aspreviously described.

Where the seat 8 is used by older children who can support their weighton a chair or vehicle seat for spreading the guard members I 6, a latchis provided for detachably connecting the guard portions 24. Said latchcomprises a bar 50 which is swingably connected adjacent one end thereofby a fastening 51 to the outer side of one of the guard portions 24. Akeeper 52 is anchored in and extends outwardly from the outer side ofthe other guard portion 24 and includes an outwardly extending stemhaving a head at its outer end. The bar 58, near its free end, isprovided with a keeper receiving notch 53, as best illustrated in Figure5, having one end opening outwardly of the bottom edge of the latch bar58 and an outwardly offset closed opposite end through which the stem ofthe keeper 5?. extends. Thus, to release the latch bar 50, the guardmembers it must be swung slightly toward one another after the latch bar58 has been swung upwardly to disengage the keeper 52 from the upperclosed end of the notch 53 and so that the keeper 52 can be aligned withthe open lower end of the notch 53 to permit the latch bar 58 to then beswung upwardly to a released position. A child seated on the seat memberI0 would be unable to accomplish these successively operations necessaryto release the latch bar 59 and is thus retained in the seat member 5.

The receptacle 38 may be used for any suitable purpose as for example instoring diapers or other articles for use by a young child.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, with out departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A childs seat structure comprising a back rest, means connected tosaid back rest including chair or seat back engaging hooks forsuspending the childs seat structure on the back rest of a chair orseat, a seat having an inner edge hingedly connected to the back restnear a lower end of said back rest for vertical swinging movement, guardmembers having inner ends hingedly connected to said back rest abovesaid seat and adjacent the side edges of the back rest for horizontalswinging movement about vertical axes,

said guard members having inturned outer free guard members includingvertical wall portions maintained in substantially parallel relationshipto one another by said springs and seat when a weight is supported onthe seat, and said inturned outer free end portions having bottom edgesupwardly offset from the bottom edges of said wall portions foraccommodating the legs of a child between said inturned end portions andthe seat.

4. A childs seat structure as in claim 1, spring means urging said guardmembers to swing away from one another, and latch means releasablyconnecting the inturned outer end portions of the guard membersincluding a latch bar having a keeper receiving slot provided withoffset open and closed ends whereby swinging movement of the guardmembers is required for disengaging the latch bar from the keeper.

5. A childs seat structure as in claim 1, said means connected to saidback rest and provided with supporting hooks including a rear wallconnected to the back rest and spaced from the side thereof opposite tothe side on which the seat is supported, said rear wall being adapted toengage against the forward side of the chair or seat back rest on whichthe childs seat structure is suspended for spacing the childs seatstructure back rest therefrom.

6. A childs seat structure of the type adapted to be suspended on achair or seat back rest including a back rest and a seat member hingedlyconnected to a forward side of said back rest for vertical swingingmovement between a raised position and a lowered position in whichlowered position the seat member is disposed at a greater angle to theback rest than in the raised position thereof, a pair of guard membershingedly connected to said back rest above the level of the seat memberhinge for swinging movement in horizontal planes about vertical axestoward and away from one another, spring means urging said guard membersoutwardly of one another, and means connecting the guard members andseat whereby the seat is swung upwardly by outward swinging movement ofsaid guard members and said guard members are swung toward one an otherby downward swinging movement of the seat member when a weight is placedthereon for positioning the guard members in positions substantiallysurrounding the seat member when the seat member is in a loweredposition.

'7. A childs seat structure as in claim 6, and means forming a stop forlimiting downward swinging movement of the seat member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,902,709 King Mar. 21, 1933 2,621,708 Luce, Jr Dec. 16, 1952FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 624,906 France Apr. 16, 1927

